Respect | Fat Freddy’s Drop

Fat Freddy’s Drop

From the underground to the higher ground, perennial soul shakers Fat Freddy’s Drop is triumphantly carving themselves worldwide domination with a brew of diverse musical ingredients and blistering live shows.

Drawing inspiration from almost every part of the black music lexicon, Fat Freddy’s Drop deliver soul drenched vocals and jazz harmonies colliding with tape delays and echo chambers, underpinned by a rhythm section as comfortable laying down a throbbing, techy soundscape as they are a swampy blues stomp.
In their home country of New Zealand the seven strong band have claimed highest-selling album by an independent artist, a slew of RIANZ Tuis for everything from Best Producer, Album of The Year, Best Artwork, Best Video to People’s Choice awards. On the international circuit the respect and accolades have grown off the back of hypnotic live performance and independent releases including three studio albums, ‘Blackbird’, ‘Dr Boondigga & The Big BW’ and the album that started it all ‘Based On A True Story’ released in 2005.

It’s a following the hard working Freddys established touring overseas annually to play festivals such as WOMAD UK, SONAR, Bestival, Lowlands, DEMF, Pukkelpop, Glastonbury, The Big Chill and Roskilde. Not to mention sold-out headline shows at Alexandra Palace and Brixton Academy (LDN), Paradiso (Amsterdam), Vega (Copenhagen), The Coliseum (Lisbon), Henry Fonda Theatre (Los Angeles), Columbiahalle (Berlin), Sydney Opera House, and Le Zenith (Paris).

The sold-out 10,000 capacity Alexandra Palace show was a far cry from Freddys first London show, the 150 capacity Notting Hill Arts Club in 2003. At last count Freddys has played over 800 shows in their career, clocking up over 450 appearances in Europe, almost 30 Australian Tours and over 300 shows in their homeland.

Freddys line-up pretty much remains the same; vocals, guitar, synths with assorted keys, 3 piece horn section as well as a guest MC. The music composition starts from a collective jam reflecting a mix of influences, soul, reggae and techno. You might sometimes detect a side order of country or epic dub. You might even get a whiff of blues, ska or Chicago house.

No two live Freddys gigs are ever the same as the jams switch to the stage and songs are road-tested for recording in the studio. The current Freddy’s HQ is Bays Studio, Wellington; a studio equipped with a decent kitchen, inextricably linking the band’s love of good cuisine matched with music.

It’s here that the band is spending most of 2015 in studio lock-down recording a brand new album, the follow up to ‘Blackbird’, which was released in 2013 and has sold over 150,000 copies worldwide. The first single ‘Slings And Arrows’ from the as yet untitled album was released late last year on 7” and digital. Beat maker DJ Fitchie described Slings And Arrows as, “musically the most reggae song we’ve ever made. We’ve gone back to our roots with a tough, conscious reggae tune that is classic Freddys.” He said the band is really excited about the new album, promising it will be “even better than Blackbird.”

Fat Freddy’s Drop first emerged from humble beginnings amidst the underground music scene of Wellington, New Zealand in 1999, jamming along to instrumental B-sides of funk, dub, house and hip-hop records dropped by DJ Mu aka Fitchie at parties and clubs around the capital.

Sixteen years later and Freddys are still together, still doing things in their inimitable way and still getting better and better. Writing, recording and performing is now a full-time thing and Freddys have resolutely remained independent with an unhurried approach.

Fat Freddy’s Drop recently announced that their fourth studio album ‘Bays’ is to be released on October 23, 2015. The 9-track LP was recorded at the band’s Bays Studio, a former 1950s HMV vinyl pressing plant in Kilbirnie. The band also rolled out their full run of New Zealand summer tour dates.

“It’s been a more creative process writing this album in the studio rather than recording songs which have been well road-tested”, Freddy’s vocalist Joe Dukie said.

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